adminThe Halls of Congress were packed with credit union people from around the country. Alabama and Florida credit unions made 38 visits in just about seven hours. Also during the Hill visits, Reps. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and Bill Posey (R-FL) were honored with Lawmaker of the Year awards. Each has shown over the past year to understand credit union issues and to also act on them by co-sponsoring legislation.
Regulatory relief was the hot topic during the meetings with the delegation hearing about the CUNA study that found regulatory burden is costing credit unions $7.2 billion. As Army Aviation Center FCU CEO Bobby Michael told Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), “that’s a lot of staff we could hire.” Credit unions heard from their member of Congress or from staffers that reg relief is on the minds of almost every business that stops by Capitol Hill. Credit unions talked at length about the CFPB and how it is overreaching with its “one size fits all” rule-making.
In most meetings, there was good discussion about the issues and each office had a working knowledge of each topic. It’s clear that credit union issues are becoming more top of mind with congressional offices. Another hot topic discussed were data security, and credit unions provided real world examples of how data breaches are becoming more prevalent, especially in smaller businesses that don’t make the headline.
CUNA recognized credit unions great works with the Herring, Maxwell, and Desjardins awards. First Commerce Credit Union, based in Tallahassee, won a Louise Herring award for the first time for its “My Way Checking Account” for 18-29 year olds. For the fifth year in a row, Alabama Credit Union, based in Tuscaloosa, won a Maxwell award for its “Secret Meals for Kids” program. The credit union provides meals for kids in their backpacks for the weekend.
Follow the CUNA GAC with the daily “LSCU from the GAC” videos that are brought to you by CUNA Mutual Group. CUNA is also providing a daily video. LSCU Sr. Director of Communications Mike Bridges is hosting both videos. Be sure to follow the conference on the League’s Twitter feed and see pictures on the League’s Facebook page.
